Friday, November 24, 2017

MORE DETAILS ON THE MUNICIPAL THREE C's (ie. Yesterday's Post)




"First unlike Michigan, and clearly reflecting Toronto's diversity, minority status does not increase likelihood of living near a pollution source. Rather, low income status, followed by residence in an urban community, are most associated with increased likelihood of living in proximity to contaminated properties, waste disposal, treatment and storage facilities and industrial facilities.".

The Ralgreen Crescent neighbourhood in Kitchener was built upon land which had been used as a landfill until about a decade earlier. "The development was approved by both the City of Kitchener and the provincial Ministry of the Environment, with full knowledge of the previous land use.".

Regarding the townhouse unit on Strasburg Road beside the Ottawa St. Landfill; the City of Kitchener issued building permits "...although within a few years it became obvious that these townhouses were actually built on the site. Due to a "bit of a mix-up" according to a Ministry of the Environment official (The Record, October 18, 1978), provincial regulations for development on landfills were by-passed by both the City and the builder. In this instance, the proximity of the waste was visually apparent to anyone involved.".

"A methane gas explosion occurring on Ralgreen in 1969 dramatically proclaimed the presence of the old landfill on which the homes were built.". "However rather than seeking a solution, or re-locating residents, the City's attention turned to the Strasburg Road area and the current city landfill site. Gas levels at Strasburg Road were monitored regularly for the next decade, while the Ralgreen homes were only checked sporadically by the Fire Department when an owner requested it. The City maintained a strict secrecy about the possibility of methane gas accumulation at Ralgreen stating public panic had to be avoided.".

"It is less than ironic that settlement of the Ralgreen case only occurred after a number of years of unproductive negotiation when, with no other options available, the residents finally launched a $65 million lawsuit. Facing significant financial risk, the City found grounds to compromise.".

Regarding our neighbour Uniroyal Chemical, here in Elmira: "For more than a decade the company has resisted efforts by the local residents and the provincial Ministry of the Environment to achieve a clean-up of the site. This has included thrice appealing Ministry control orders, resulting in more than two years of Environmental Appeal Board hearings. Uniroyal has used all bureaucratic means to contest public pressures for remediation. In fact the company's environmental policy states that any charges brought against it will be challenged in court.".

Varnicolor Chemical is also mentioned in this report as having been investigated and charged with 42 offences under the Environmental Protection Act. Unmentioned is the extreme methods local citizens were required to take due to the collusion, cover-up and conspiracys involved. Trespassing, deep throat informers, photographs and recordings were all required to force the Ontario M.O.E. to do their jobs. These included a source within Varnicolor who told us about collusion between the Ontario Ministry of Environment and the owner of Varnicolor. This eventually resulted in criminal charges and dismissal of a M.O.E. investigator, one Glen McDonald. He was the second M.O.E. officer originally working here who was fired by the M.O.E. for breech of trust and more. Jim Dochstader was the other. The Ontario M.O.E. are corrupt at the top and their commands are followed by those below who wish to keep their jobs.

Therefore Woolwich Council you need to be aware of the ongoing corruption, collusion and cover-ups all around you. Denial of such indicates a lack of knowledge at the minimum and or it could indicate that you have a personal reason to deny the ubiquitous existence of corruption. Politics is unto itself nothing more than polite collusion. It is exactly what Sandy and Mark did privately with Chemtura (Uniroyal) and the proven corrupt M.O.E.. Uniroyal's measure has long been taken by local citizens and for woefully ignorant and or possibly corrupt politicians to make deals with them privately, including manufacturing a crisis to give Council an excuse to dismiss the best CPAC they ever had, was abhorrent and disgusting.

All the above quotes are from the report I mentioned here yesterday. Council doesn't have it from me yet although they could always look it up on-line as I did. Hard for me to be respectful to a party who haven't as yet even acknowledged the receipt of my last communication to them from a week ago. That was a long list of questions in regards to the Bolender Park Landfill. Considering they've had literally months since my first Delegation to Council on the matter you'd think they would have voluntarily provided me with some answers by now. That failure by Council also falls under the umbrella of the THREE C's.

No comments:

Post a Comment